Math Challenge 2016: Something old, something new

The Saskatchewan Math Challenge, a provincial math competition co-sponsored by the Saskatchewan Math Teachers’ Society and the University of Saskatchewan, will be held this year on March 12th, 2016 in the Arts Building of the University of Saskatchewan. Students from grades 7 to 10 will compete as teams of 3 to 5 in solving problems in one of two levels: Grade 7-8 and 9-10. We are anticipating another high-energy day filled with interesting mathematics!

We are excited to build on the growing momentum of the challenge, and are introducing some major changes for the 2016 version. These changes are based on the options available to Saskatchewan students throughout the province, and on the opinions and feedback of numerous coaches, executive members, and math teachers province-wide. In particular, students who participate in the Math Challenge will no longer write individual exams. This change is based on the options available to Saskatchewan students throughout the province and on the opinions and feedback of numerous coaches, executive members, and math teachers province-wide. As such, the focus of Math Challenge 2016 will be on collaborative group exams.

Grade 9-10 students will also be given a block of time to work as teams on a longer problem, and will then present their solution to a panel of judges. Teams may also choose to present, to an audience of their peers, a solution to a problem from a group exam that they are particularly proud of. At the closing of the Math Challenge, the judges will announce and award the teams with the most ingenuous / creative solutions as assessed by the panel members and their peers, respectively. We are excited to introduce this new aspect of the Math Challenge, as it will give participants the opportunity to communicate mathematically in a new way, to make their creative ideas public, and to connect with other teams.

Participants will also have a chance to win one of many door prizes, which include rotational puzzles, games, T-shirts, gift certificates, and more from some of your favorite local businesses – including Amazing Stories, Dragon’s Den, King Me Boardgamery, Puzzle Master, and Broadway Cafe! We thank these businesses for their generous support of Math Challenge 2016.

For more information and to register your team, please click here. Hope to see you there!— The Math Challenge Team